Montenegro, like many of the Western Balkan countries, relies heavily on agriculture as a source of economic productivity and is eagerly searching for ways to make its agricultural sector more competitive while preparing to contend with the realities of climate change. The U.N. and the World Bank have worked extensively to promote sustainable agriculture in Montenegro. One important component of this work has been a realization of the need to make these efforts explicitly inclusive of female farmers, who are often overlooked.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, in particular, has a long history of working to promote competitive, sustainable agriculture in Montenegro that actually improves the circumstances of Montenegrin farmers. In addition to the focus on agriculture, the FAO has also put in place rural development initiatives and helped the Montenegrin government to ensure the sustainable management of the country’s natural resources.

There are some areas where the FAO has been particularly successful. Together with the Montenegrin government, it was able to improve the sustainability and management of the country’s forests, which is important as wood is still a key source of fuel, especially in rural areas. Montenegro has also made strides in recent years in managing its fisheries on the Adriatic coast. The focus now is on bringing Montenegrin agriculture in line with E.U. regulatory standards and ensuring that small farmers can compete on the international market in anticipation of Montenegro eventually entering the European Union.

Rarely, however, do these kinds of initiatives make a point of being inclusive of female farmers. In the Western Balkans, strict gender roles persist and farming is not seen as something that concerns women. But female farmers in Montenegro account for 13 percent of landholders and 65 percent of the agricultural workforce, indicating that perhaps these gender roles are becoming out of date. Female farmers have recently had success securing grants from the World Bank’s MIDAS program, but too often farmers, especially women, are not made aware that these programs exist to help them.

Now, finally, these women are being addressed and reached out to as a real constituency. The Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development hosted a workshop exclusively for female farmers that allowed them to network and learn about options for assistance that many of the women did not know they had.

Sustainable agriculture in Montenegro, and in the Balkans more broadly, is ultimately going to be about more than eliminating ecologically harmful practices and increasing crop yields in an ecofriendly way. It will also consist of leveling the playing field and improving equity in the industry across all demographics and of producing more and wasting less.

The Balkan nation of Montenegro has undergone rapid economic development in recent years. While Montenegro has been largely successful in the 10 years since it declared independence from Serbia, infrastructure in Montenegro continues to face problems of inefficiency. Nowhere are these problems more apparent than in the highway system and the building stock. That being said, steps are being taken to address these problems and ensure that these issues do not hinder Montenegrin progress as time goes on.

The first major issue is the fact that Montenegro’s roads and highways are not all up to the task of connecting all the areas of the rapidly developing country. Existing roads are in disrepair and often take long or inefficient routes to connect two points. Additionally, there remain certain areas of the country that are not yet serviced by major road networks. This wastes fuel and makes travel to other parts of the country virtually impossible for some Montenegrins.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development aims to fix these issues by providing a total of €25 million to directly and indirectly support an overhaul of the country’s roads and highways. These improvements will make travel safer, easier and more accessible to more of the Montenegrin population.

The second challenge that Montenegro will face going forward is its aging building stock. Montenegrin cities are often full of Soviet-era “panelak” or panel-style buildings. These were almost all built prior to 1990 and were only built to last for about 30 years, and many of the buildings were already in varying states of disrepair by the time the regime collapsed.

These buildings are also incredibly inefficient to heat. While replacing them all at once is virtually impossible, alternative ways to retrofit them, prolong their lifespans and make them more energy-efficient are taking hold. Along with traditional improvements, adding green roofs to these buildings is becoming popular.

In addition to being nice amenities, studies have shown that green roofs are able to significantly reduce the amount of heat that radiates from a building via the roof. This helps to keep most of the heat in the residences, where it should be, and reduce overall energy usage. This promises to go a long way towards promoting green infrastructure in Montenegro as well.

Some infrastructure in Montenegro has a long way to go before it catches up with the rest of the country. That being said, improvements are underway. While still less than ideal, Montenegrin infrastructure can be expected to undergo major improvements as the economy continues to develop, making it more environmentally friendly while still improving everyday life and bringing greater convenience to many Montenegrins.

Humanitarian aid to Montenegro has been extremely helpful to the country’s growth, thanks in part to assistance from the United States Embassy in Montenegro and organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme. The country of Montenegro continues to grow and progress in positive ways with the help of the United States Embassy, as well as organizations such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The Role of the U.S. Embassy

The United States Embassy in Montenegro has been essential in giving humanitarian aid to Montenegro in the following ways:

The U.S. Embassy opened the Education U.S.A. Center which offers support to all those who would like to study in the U.S. Currently more than 120 Montenegrin students are studying at U.S. universities.

Since 2006, the U.S. Embassy supported almost 130 projects worth nearly $1.9 million to strengthen democracy and respect for human rights and to strengthen civil society in Montenegro.

Over the past 10 years, almost 400 Montenegrins experienced U.S. culture through one of the nation’s professional or educational exchange programs.

More than 50 American companies operate in Montenegro. The U.S. interest in doing business in Montenegro is constantly on the rise, especially after Montenegro’s invitation to join the NATO Alliance.

The top six U.S. investors have invested over $300 million in Montenegro since its independence. An additional $300 million of investment is in the pipeline from U.S. companies operating in the tourism, telecommunications and energy sectors.

The UNDP has also provided, and continue to provide, crucial humanitarian aid to Montenegro that helps the country in their economy and in the betterment of the overall livelihood of the Montenegro people.

The United Nations Development Program

The UNDP has a few different humanitarian aid projects in Montenegro that have been a great benefit to the country. One of their projects supports anti-discrimination and gender equality policies. The purpose of the project is to contribute to the protection, promotion and enforcement of human rights and equal opportunities in Montenegro. So far, the project has empowered female members of parliamentary political parties through the advancement of their knowledge and skills in the areas of gender equality and women’s political activism. The effort has also provided trainings that “aim to enhance political engagement of women.”

Sustainability

Another UNDP project in Montenegro is geared towards strengthening sustainability of protected areas. That project’s purpose is to develop institutional capacities to design, plan and manage a more representative system of protected areas. The project has already accomplished a few of its goals such as designing an environmental information system for the Environmental Protection Agency of Montenegro, helping improve legal framework for functioning of National Parks by supporting amendments to the Law on National Parks and supporting the establishment of educational programmes in protected area management and rural development, with emphases on financial planning and management of protected areas.

The World Bank

The World Bank also deserves a worthy mention in its provision of humanitarian aid to Montenegro. Last year, the organization approved a $14 million loan to Montenegro for the country’s Revenue Administration Reform Project. The objective of that project is to improve the effectiveness of operational functions of Montenegro’s Tax Administration and to reduce the compliance costs for corporate taxpayers.

With the continued assistance from the U.S. Embassy as well as the UNDP and the World Bank, Montenegro will continue to positively progress.

With only about 600,000 people living within its borders, Montenegro is one of the smallest countries on the Balkan Peninsula of Eastern Europe. Its small status, however, has not diminished its government’s desire for growth and development.

In fact, Montenegro’s somewhat vulnerable economy is set on a path to become part of the European Union by 2020. With the deadline fast approaching, Montenegro, along with the World Bank, have committed a whopping $144 million for 2018 (compared to only $3 million in 2017) toward development projects in Montenegro designed to kick start domestic development.

One of the following five development projects in Montenegro could very well be the key to nation’s economic and political future.

This is a tremendously important economic stimulation project that aims to reestablish trust between investors and Montenegro’s flux-prone economy. The public financial sectors are at the epicenter of this reform, as a staggering $93 million has been allocated to rebuild investor confidence and stabilize public debt levels for Montenegro’s most infringed people.

Specific measures of the reform include a reduction in wage for government officials, increased supervision of nonbanking financial sectors and pharmaceutical market reform, making medication more accessible and affordable. This is the first of a two-stage fiscal program that Emanuel Salinas, the World Bank Country Manager for Montenegro, believes will help the country “overcome today’s challenges and achieve strong sustained and inclusive growth.”

Industrial Waste Management and Cleanup Project

Montenegro, which literally means “black mountain,” is home to stunning cliffs that run for miles along the Adriatic Sea. Sitting on a grassy knoll overlooking this country’s sloping wild rivers and beautiful clear lakes, one would never imagine that there are disposal sites so contaminated that $68.9 million have been set aside in a direct effort to have them remediated and safe for habitation.

This cleanup project aims to reduce public health risks, such as air pollution and soil erosion, as well as vitalize the country’s tourism sector. The contaminated sites are to be leveled and blanketed by more than 30 centimeters of uncontaminated soil and future waste disposal will be in strict accordance with Montenegrin and E.U. legislation.

Revenue Administration Reform Project

Corruption is a pervasive problem for all facets of bureaucracy in the Montenegrin government. High levels of organized crime activities, such as loan sharking, drug smuggling and human trafficking, have found their way into the offices and juries of Montenegro.

This tax reform project, newly commissioned by the World Bank, is looking to bring functionality back to the countries ravaged revenue administration. Approved on July 31, 2017, this program, if successful, will be vitally important to Montenegro’s mission of joining the E.U.

Montenegro Energy Efficiency Additional Financing

These sustainable energy development projects in Montenegro look to pick up where their original 2008 counterpart leaves off. The additional $6.8 million in funding will help continue the very same efficiency programs that were able to provide nine educational facilities and six health care facilities in Montenegro with energy savings that ranged between 30 and 65 percent. For a country that imports an entire third of its energy, the savings have been two-fold. Montenegro is also one of the only Balkan countries that is actively advancing toward a green future.

Somewhat famous for its grapes, Montenegro boasts an export of $15 million of wine a year. These development projects in Montenegro intend to manage public funds and focus them more on the agricultural sector, where near 70 percent of Montenegro’s rural population resides. This program has helped thousands of farmers acquire new farming machines and storage units. Ultimately, the project intends to implement a more modern agricultural system in the coming years.

Development projects in Montenegro that focus specifically on domestic improvement radically improve the quality of living for the people working and living on the land. Although there is still much more work to be done, the path is clear for Montenegro to become a fully developed nation. The strides being made by Montenegro today should inspire other Balkan countries to do the same.

Montenegro became a sovereign state after 55 percent of the population voted for independence in a May 2006 referendum, splitting from the former Union of Serbia and Montenegro. Women’s empowerment in Montenegro is at a complicated crossroads, with their fight for basic rights being heavily encumbered.

Women have topped the list of most discriminated groups in Montenegrin society for years. The statistics of violence are heavily skewed towards women, meaning every third woman in the state has experienced some form of violence. There is both political and social marginalization of women, visible through the lack of participation granted to women in formal institutions. As a result, most important decisions for Montenegrin society are made by men.

Misogyny is also prevalent in media, as smear campaigns against women and civil society activities have become commonplace in Montenegro. Lastly, the troubling economic situation has affected women the most, with many women being forced to work in the grey economy. This work exposes women to additional risks, as these jobs are not covered by insurance nor monitored by the government.

The latest Centre for Civic Education (CCE) research on discrimination indicated that more than 70 percent of citizens agree that the most important role of women in Montenegrin society is to be a good mother and wife. This illustrates the core problem and the difficult challenges that come with moving towards women’s empowerment in Montenegro.

Despite these struggles, there are plans being undertaken to improve the situation. The first of these is the Time for Women’s Rights and Gender Equality in Montenegro, which is a three-year project that was implemented between May 2014 and September 2016. It was undertaken in cooperation with the Ekvilib Inštitut and the Public Policy Institute, focusing on the fields of women’s rights and gender equality. The overall objective of the plan was to increase the visibility of the issue of gender inequality and women’s rights among the public and political actors in Montenegro.

To further women’s empowerment in Montenegro, the United Nations Development Programme has implemented a project that advocates for women’s and girl’s equal rights. The project combats discriminatory practices and challenges the roles and stereotypes that cause inequalities and exclusion in the country. Along with this, the UNDP’s goal is to support Montenegro in fulfilling its commitments of achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment in the post-2015 development agenda.

With these programs instituted and the problems interfering with women’s empowerment in Montenegro exposed, there will be visible improvements to women’s rights and equality throughout the country.

A Mediterranean nation located in the Balkan peninsula, Montenegro is a country with an average poverty rate of approximately 8.6 percent. The economy in the nation relies heavily upon energy industries, but it is considered to be one of the most inefficient users of energy and water. Although the country integrated into the European Union (EU) in 2012, which promoted the introduction of more rural and agricultural development and maintenance, environmental and economic strife still remain rampant.

Political and Economic Crises
Wars in Montenegro, coupled with international isolation, has led to a decline in production levels in recent years. Between 1987 and 1992, the collapse of the Yugoslav federation directly implicated the nation in a series of conflicts—namely, the Bosnian and Serbian wars—that held serious ramifications for the economic opportunities in the country. As a direct product of conflict in the region, the GDP as of 2002 was approximately 63 percent of its 1989 rate. Reciprocally, unemployment skyrocketed by approximately 50 percent, and exports reduced by 65 percent. Although some improvement has been made since the start of the war, the long-lasting ramifications of the conflict linger as an ever-present reminder of the impact that the war had on the region.

Energy Inefficiency
Because it remains highly dependent on energy intensive industries, increasing resource prices contribute to the main causes of poverty in Montenegro. Due to a lack of information, awareness and financial means, the nation has not been able to make the transition toward renewable, efficient energy sources. As a result, they have continued to rely upon extremely expensive resources, limiting their capability to expand their economic resources.

Ethnic DifferentiationA 2005 study conducted by Christian Bodewig and Akshay Sethi shows that the majority of those living in poverty in Montenegro are within the Roma population. Both income and non-income determinants, such as social isolation, limited access to education and “othering,” contribute tremendously to this socioeconomic disparity.

The nation has recently been progressing in terms of its poverty reduction. Developing the success of their original Montenegro Institutional Development and Agriculture Strengthening Project (MIDAS), for example, the World Bank provided Montenegro with $3.5 million to assist the restoration of rural areas.

Still, though, the causes of poverty in Montenegro maintain a hold over the country’s economic development, limiting the opportunities, growth and progress that the country can undergo. It therefore is necessary for world powers to provide assistance to Montenegro to help combat some of these significantly influential contributors to poverty in order to ensure that the problems stemming from them do not metastasize.

Montenegro is one of the world’s never nations, having become independent from Serbia in 2006. As such, development in the country is a work in progress, with several vulnerable groups still existing. There are a few different ways that people around the globe are figuring out how to help people in Montenegro. There are multiple foundations whose mission is to combat poverty within Montenegro as well as instances where individuals within the United States are helping out.

“Help – Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe” is a foundation that has been committed to providing people in need globally with prompt, sustainable, long-term aid and support since 1981. Their mission is in line with its principle of assisting people with working towards self-reliance. It works together with people that are in need regardless of their age, gender, political views or religious beliefs by providing aid in the aftermath of catastrophes.

Help has been working in Montenegro specifically since 1999, and the main focus of their work there is supporting the Roma people who had fled to Montenegro during the Kosovo war. Help focuses on clarifying residence issues such as access to health care, education and income opportunities by pursuing uniform approaches to solutions to reduce economic hardships while taking their culture and customs into consideration. Help is particularly focusing on Roma women, who tend to be the most disadvantaged in social and economic terms.

U.S. emergency planners and their counterparts in Montenegro came together in Podgorica to help the country better prepare the young democracy to effectively respond to potential catastrophic disasters in a four-day working session that is part of the Department of Defense Civil-Military Emergency Preparedness Program. This program is a global initiative to help countries be better able to address security concerns and be prepared to manage all varieties of hazards.

BalkanInsight has an interesting take on when people want to learn how to help people in Montenegro. The article talks about how poverty is not simple, and those who believe that it is do not necessarily understand it. Not all children in the country suffer from hunger; on the contrary, almost one in four children under five are overweight, with just 7 percent of Roma children being underweight compared to 1 percent of the general population.

Sometimes where hunger does occur in Montenegro it is because of family problems, such as mental health, addiction or domestic violence. Situations such as these require more complex interventions, not necessarily the food parcels that are shown time and again on social or broadcast media. It is wise in a situation like this to realize that it is always good to help when one needs help, but to be careful as to how you are helping and make sure that you are truly helping rather than hurting.

Montenegro is a small Balkan country that declared independence from Serbia in 2006. Since that time, the poverty rate in Montenegro has varied rather significantly, rising as high as 11.3 percent (2006, 2012) and falling as low as 4.9 percent (2008). The most recent data available, from 2013, lists the Montenegro poverty rate at 8.6 percent.

Prior to Montenegro’s independence, the country of Serbia and Montenegro was attempting accession into the European Union. Now an independent country, Montenegro is in its own process of accession into the EU. If and when Montenegro becomes an EU member, the Montenegro poverty rate has the potential for a fairly dramatic change, due to differences in how poverty is calculated.

Montenegro currently uses an absolute poverty rate. The poverty line as reported in 2013 was €186.54 per month. This line was calculated using basic costs of life needs, consisting of food costs and non-food needs. In contrast, the EU uses a relative poverty rate calculation. The poverty line in EU member states is calculated as 60 percent of the median income.

Attempting to calculate the relative poverty rate in Montenegro to demonstrate the difference is not easy. Monstat, Montenegro’s statistical office, currently provides average income rather than median income, so determining the relative poverty rate based on median income is not immediately possible. Using markers such as the given average income and income inequality index to estimate median income suggest the poverty line would rise using a relative calculation. Using EU member poverty rates as a guideline would also seem to suggest the potential for a higher poverty rate in a relative system.

Montenegro’s foreign minister Srđan Darmanović stated earlier this year that Montenegrin accession into the EU could happen as early as 2022. Even with the relative volatility of the Montenegro poverty rate over the last decade, a sudden rise around the point of accession need not be an immediate concern if understood as a change in the calculation system.

Located in southeastern Europe, just between Serbia and the Adriatic Sea, lies the small nation of Montenegro. The former member of Yugoslavia has only been independent since 2006, and is still transitioning into a market economy. Here are the most common diseases in Montenegro:

Ischemic Heart Disease
A condition characterized by narrowed heart arteries, thus reducing blood flow to the heart, ischemic heart disease can ultimately result in unexpected heart attack. Also known as coronary artery disease, ischemic heart disease was assessed to be the most fatal of the common diseases in Montenegro in 2005. By 2015, it was still the most fatal, but the prevalence of deaths by the disease had fortunately decreased by seven percent.

Cerebrovascular Disease
Cerebrovascular disease refers to any disease affecting blood flow to the brain. Such disorders often result in aneurysms, carotid stenosis, intracranial stenosis, vertebral stenosis, stroke and vascular malformations. In 2015, cerebrovascular disease was the second most fatal common disease in Montenegro, and had been for the past decade. However, the disease had unfortunately increased in prevalence by 4.8 percent within those 10 years.

Lung Cancer
A type of cancer beginning in the lungs, lung cancer can cause a person to cough up blood, experience chronic fatigue, have recurrent respiratory problems and lose weight unexpectedly, among other effects. Smoking is cited as a high risk factor for developing lung cancer. In 2005, lung cancer was the third most fatal of the common diseases in Montenegro. In 2015, it remains so, but the prevalence of deaths by the disease has decreased by 1.3 percent.

The government of Montenegro has been attempting to address the issue of smoking for years. In 2004, Montenegro made it illegal to advertise smoking, to smoke in public or even to portray smoking on Montenegrin television. In addition, the Montenegrin National CVD Prevention Coordinator introduced a “Healthy Lifestyles” subject in schools. Hopefully, Montenegrin government will continue to address the most common diseases in Montenegro through responsible reforms and policies.

Montenegro, which declared its independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro on June 3, 2006, is classified as an upper middle-income economy by the World Bank. Overall, the state of human rights in Montenegro seems to be better than that of other countries in the developing world. This being said, there is also still work to be done.

One of the areas in which human rights in Montenegro are relatively well protected is political freedom. Montenegro is a mixed parliamentary and presidential republic with a multiparty political system, in which the voters elect both the president and the unicameral parliament through popular elections. According to a preliminary report published by the observation mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), the elections held on October 16, 2016 were conducted in a competitive environment, and the fundamental freedoms of voters were generally respected. The Montenegro Human Rights Report, published by the U.S. State Department in 2016, also stated that there were no reports of the government’s involvement in arbitrary or illicit killings, and no reports of politically motivated disappearances.

However, some problems still remain unresolved, especially those involving restrictions on the freedom of press. For example, On October 22, 2015, a freelance journalist named Jovo Martinovic was arrested on suspicion of involvement in a drug-trafficking scheme. Many have voiced concerns that the evidence against Martinovic offered by the deputy special prosecutor is weak at best. Moreover, the journalist has contended from the beginning of his detention that the only reason he spent time with the criminal group was to fulfill his duties as an investigative journalist. This incident has clearly illustrated the Montenegro authorities’ lack of respect for media freedom.

Other reported problems in human rights in Montenegro include corruption and lack of transparency in government, impunity for war crime, and violations of the right to peaceful assembly. Whether the country will be able to achieve noticeable improvement in these areas still remains to be seen.